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Verification vs. Validation

You can verify and confirm, but that doesn’t mean it’s right.

Denise Robitaille
Sun, 05/03/2009 - 15:05
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As some of you know, quality “speak” and concepts have been known to bleed into my everyday life. This is not uncommon for quality professionals. The only difference between some of us and the rest of you is that many of you are still in denial. You won’t admit to the occasional slip of the quality tongue (e.g., “I need to see the objective evidence that you’ve done your homework.”)

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Several years ago, a colleague from Central America asked if I had any good examples of the difference between verification and validation. This particular question has plagued many organizations for quite some time. How can something possibly be verified as meeting specification and still not be what the customer wants? It seems illogical, and yet the truth is that it can and does occur.

I told my friend that I did indeed have a good example and proceeded to tell him this true story:

I was helping my mother with some crafts for her church bazaar. My mother would crochet fancy attachments resembling a stylized pinafore that she would affix to kitchen towels. This not only made them very pretty, but served the practical function of creating a loop for hanging the towel.

 …

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Comments

Submitted by Ian Hendra on Thu, 01/19/2017 - 13:57

Mnemonic..and the opposite..

Hi Denise,

Good story, thanks.  

I find this mnemonic helps with ISO 9001 terminology..

Verification = the answer to "have we designed the right thing?" - ie does it look like what the client wants?

Validation = the answer to "have we designed the thing right?" - ie does it work the way client wanted it to? 

That is, of course, until you come across a died in the wool, fully paid up, card-carrying food technologist who will tell you you have the defintions the wrong way round!

Cheers

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Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 05/02/2020 - 12:51

In reply to Mnemonic..and the opposite.. by Ian Hendra

Verification

verification vs validation nice post:)

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Submitted by dbh369 on Thu, 03/16/2017 - 11:16

mnemonic

I believe the comment below could be misleading, the way I've heard it is: Validation: are we designing the right product (to meet the customer's needs). Verification: are we designing the product right (meaning it meets our specs and design criteria).

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